What do you mean you've never played a Zelda game?
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 - 5:34pm
Yes it's true. In my 15 years or so of playing games I've not so much as touched a Zelda game - and I'm guessing playing as Link in Smash Bros doesn't count...
So the big question is, which one should I play first?
Pistols for two and coffee for one.
...Zelda maybe?
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Probably sounds like a ridiculous question to seasoned Zelda fans, but does it actually stand the test of time?
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A Link to the Past on the SNES, definitely, although I'd say that Ocarina of Time on the N64 is a close second (if you can get over the dated graphics). Honestly, it's hard to go wrong with any post NES Zelda game since they are all one degree of brilliant or another (the NES ones are also decent but they show their age in terms of gameplay where the games from the SNES on do not).
If you have a Wii, you can play just about every console Zelda game available, and many of them without even going to the store (Zelda 1 for the NES, Zelda: LttP for the SNES, and Ocarina of Time for the N64 are all virtual console games). The rest of the pre-Gamecube games can be found in various compilation discs for the Gamecube (which will play on a Wii), although some may be hard to find since they were preorder bonuses for Wind Waker and The Four Swords.
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I'd say either Twighlight Princess (Wii) or Link to the Past (SNES). A lot of people will say Ocarina of Time, but I think TP did everything OOT did well, with better controls, better graphics, and no Navi making you want to drill your Ocarina through your skull.
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Hell no. It sucks now. The 2nd Zelda game sort of stands up, but it's not so good nor representative. It's a side scroller...
I'd start with either A Link to the Past, which I think is still pretty good (think GBA game quality), or with Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess after that. I personally found the design of Twilight Princess to be a bit boring.Those 3 are pretty good on their own.
The Gamecube Zelda (what was it? The one that looks like a cartoon) is very light and well designed too, more like for children. I honestly didn't finish it but what I played was funny.
edit: Oh man, I forgot about Navi nagging. Yeah, that alone might make me think twice about it and recommend Twilight Princess over Ocarina of Time.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
I'm partial to WindWaker.
I'll answer a question with a question:
Are you looking for an uphill climb to the best, or a downhill slide to the bottom?
Link to the Past and Ocarina/Twilight Princess (heavy similarities) are probably the best (always open to argument). After playing Link to the Past, I found the original quite boring.
For me, the best Zeldas are:
1) A Link to the Past
2) Zelda (original)
3) Zelda IV: Link's Awakening
The 3D Zeldas have all failed to hold my interest despite repeated attempts at getting into them (haven't tried Twilight Princess yet though). Once I get a Wii, though, I may have to give both TP a shot, and Ocarina a fourth shot.
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Hey, good question. It probably applies to practically every series out there.
Legion, are you serious that you still enjoy the 1st Zelda? on NES? Crazy. Have you played it recently? It really does suck.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
If you don't like Ocarina, I wouldn't hold much hope for TP. My wife describes TP as "if Ocarina and Link to the Past collided".
The controls are cool at first, but once they blend into the background, it kind of becomes Ocarina Part Deux.
The original zelda is still fun to play to me i beat it recently on virtual nes site. It's easy, doesn't take long to beat, couple hours, and theres not really a narrative just backstory, but it introduces you to many Zelda concepts and themes which will help alot in future games.
Stories of Yesterday
The Home Tree
I suggest:
A link to the Past
Ocarina of Time
The Wind Waker
I thought Twilight Princess was good, but the pacing was off. I think Wind Waker is the perfect example of good pacing. "What about the sailing parts!?" everyone is probably screaming. Well, I liked them! Here's a Zelda haiku for your reading pleasure:
Link is on a quest
To save Zelda from sure doom
Excuuuuuse me, PRINCESS!!
Seventhted (get it, like seconded but the 7th time!) on Link to the Past. My second favorite was link's awakening (gameboy). There's also a gameboy color remake with an extra dungeon, but the original holds up great too. I'll also stand up for the original zelda. I played it on the GBA remake a few years back, and had a great time. And it's got that vital ingredient most recent games in the series have sorely lacked: challenge. Why does Nintendo insist I be able to get through a brand new game on my first try without dying or really having to stop and think? (I'm looking at you, Phantom Hourglass.)
I approve.
Occasionally
I get the urge to write out
a stupid haiku
Some Zelda fans would slap me for saying so, but The Wind Waker's my favorite. It's one of the most beautifully animated games I've ever played, and the cel shading style holds up very well. I was just playing it the other night, noticing how good it still looks. I also think it's a great introduction to someone unfamiliar with the series. It's very accessible, very charming, and still plenty deep. True, there's that interminable lengthy fetch quest as you approach the end game, but I don't think it's a dealbreaker.
Ocarina of Time is also amazing but there's no escaping the fact those early 3D graphics are a bit hard to stomach. Oh, how I'd love to see a full visual remake of that game. Twilight Princess is also amazing, but it's quirky and surreal. Almost Fellini-esque at times. I don't think it has the charm, beauty, or cohesiveness of The Wind Waker, but I'd still highly recommend it.
As for the 2D titles, I'll jump on the Link to the Past bandwagon. But I think that the 3D Zeldas are much richer, more engaging experiences.
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I've never finished a Zelda game, that would be the first game, and I have not played one since.
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Not the original, it hasn't held up well imo. I've noticed that most of the people I know that still like it are the ones that originally played it when they were young. Other games in the series have done everything it did, only better, plus more.
Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess are generally good bets. I personally loved Wind Waker, though I recognize that many people didn't (especially the long sailing parts), so maybe take that one with a grain of salt.
My favorite of all the Zelda games is also The Wind Waker. Yes, the sailing between islands is a little tedious. And the game is a little short. But it has some of the most gorgeous art design I've ever seen in a game. I love the cel shading, and they used it for some truly beautiful effects later on.
Twilight Princess is the closest yet to pure 'essence of Zelda'; it's like they took all the other games and dumped them in a pile, converted to 3d, and then filed away every extraneous bit. What they left was pure gameplay... they kept all the good mechanics from the prior games, and junked essentially all of the bad ones.
After Twilight Princess, all other Zelda titles are likely to feel rather inferior, so I'd suggest playing Wind Waker first for the awesome graphics and atmosphere, and then TP for a concentrated blast of everything Miyamoto knows about playing games.
My Top Zelda game is a Link to the Past - I don't know what it is but it's just a fantastic game overall, It's easily my favorite Zelda Game
I really like Twilight Princess as well but haven't really played it that much yet.
The one Zelda I don't like that much is Orcania of time, it's alright but I think it's really overrated compared to some of the others
I have also heard tons of good things about Wind Waker but I have yet to play it.
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I am very much in the same postion as ApplepieChamploo, since I never owned a Nintendo system up until recently when I bought a DS. I've always wanted to play a Zelda game, but emulating on the PC just felt... wrong, for a number of reasons, both legal and not
I was thinking of starting now on handheld then, but I see noone mentions Phantom Hourglass (which is where I thought I'd start) or Minish Cap. Are they that bad/mediocre? Should I really just start with Link To The Past instead?
My only console is PS, the original one. Consoles never had a foothold here, we played on Commodores, Spectrums, Amiga's and Atari's.
I never played any Zelda game. Or Metroid. Or Mario (if you don't count Donkey Kong in the arcade).
Panem et circenses
"You really need to smoke a tree first to appreciate that one." - Sanjuro
I agree though the story and pacing (as someone else mentioned) the game suffered possibly because of this focus on gameplay.
Actually, i have to say that although i did like TP, it bored me a little - something which no other Zelda game has managed to do. The story in the zelda games (since the first two) has always been as important as the gameplay but the 'acting' and pacing of the game just wasn't good enough, IMO.
My favourite zelda games in order are:
Majora's Mask
A Link to the Past
Ocarina of Time (Master Quest)
Minish Cap (which is basically ALttP anyway)
Twilight Princess
I haven't really played LoZ and AoL and i haven't played enough of Phantom Hourglass to have a solid opinion of it... but it's a little easy gameplay-wise in some aspects and i'm not really convinced of the touchscreen only interface as i'm finding the tougher baddies difficult to fight when it's difficult to run away directly after attacking etc.... also, changing your active extra weapon (boomerang, bombs) during a battle is really annoying too....
I wish there was the option to choose D-pad and the face buttons.
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Doomed - to - insidious -
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This doesn't seem to have been asked but... what system(s) do you have available to play them on?
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Assume I have any and all of them...
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Zelda II will always be one of my top choices. I know a lot of people hate it for it's departure from the normal Zelda formula, but I remember playing this game endlessly as a kid. Questing out to get the hammer to break that rockslide so you could progress further in the game felt epic at the time, and I remember it being quite a difficult feat. Sure it was a side scroller, but it was a damn good one with many memorable moments. I always wished they'd remake it with more polished graphics like Super Mario Allstars.
Who could forget the first battle with Shadow Link at the end, getting the downward thrust sword technique, "I am Error", and lost Bagu in the forest.
Great and often underrated game.
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A link to the past. The graphics hold up the best, but it's one of the early Zelda's so it's still teaching you how to beat Zelda puzzles- unlike Orcana or Twilight Princess which have a habit of expecting you to remember Zelda like solutions you used in the past.
You could also play Phantom Hourglass and have a good time.
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The first Zelda I ever played was Wind Waker, and it was a fantastic introduction to the game. Not only did my wife and I enjoy playing through it together, it was one of my daughter's first inspirations to read. She wasn't able to really play it, but she soaked up the story, and is now a Zelda fanatic. She and her friend are dressing up as Kokiri for Halloween this year.
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I have been really enjoying this one and I think it would be a good game to ease someone new into the series. It also gets extra points for being portable.
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I won't slap you for it. Actually, I loved the visual style so much that I was a bit disappointed in Twilight Princess because I knew there was a visual style that they could have used that would have both looked better and suited the essence of Zelda better. Still, even though I too enjoyed the sailing parts I was a bit dissapointed that they seemed to be used as a substitute for having a few more dungeons in the game (which was made even more dissapointing by the fact that Wind Waker had some very creative and fun dungeons). So yeah, I definitely think it is 100% worth playing but if a person was only going to play one Zelda game I'd still have it be LttP, Ocarina, or Twilight Princess.
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Wind Waker is the most gorgeous of the Zelda games, and just one of the most beautiful games I've played, period. I even love the sailing. I just hated (absolutely hated) the way that the late game Epic Fetch Quest completely killed the game's pacing for hours and hours. That would've been better to split up so that you were working on that quest gradually between dungeons throughout the game, rather than hitting a high point in the story, and then being told to basically go sail the world and find a bunch of objects by first purchasing expensive maps/hints, then jumping through hoops to be able to acquire the objects in question.
I got partway through that and put the game down for a year before finally just saying "&$#@ it", using a guide for that quest to rip through that joykilling section of the game and then get back to the fun. If it weren't for that part, my opinion of Wind Waker would be much higher. As it is, of the Zelda games I've finished (I haven't finished Twilight Princess), I rate all the other Zelda games save for Zelda II and Minish Cap as better than Wind Waker.
That said, even my least favorite of the Zelda series is up there around the top of my "overall great games" list.
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I never finished a Zelda game either, but I got most of the way through Ocarina and Wind Waker. Phantom Hourglass is waiting patiently for its time in my DS. I liked Wind Waker best. Just a gorgeous game, perfect controls, and wonderfully fun.
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